Akane stared at the mirror in the clothing store applying her minimalistic gothic makeup over her fair skin after cleaning up in one of the bathrooms. her uniform was long gone as she could finally find the time to dress how she liked. standing in a black, high cut and long sleeved, bodysuit with Military gray camo pants hugging her waist she posed admiring herself before grabbing the modified dark brown duster that she gave an apocalyptic vibe to. Finally she donned some combat boots, fingerless gloves, and a long brimmed hat that she roughed up a bit to really sell she was a badass.
"feel like you're in your correct skin now?" Logan asked as he walked up to her. She turned and looked up and down admiring his more practical choices. He wore a similar pair of gray combat pants and boots, with a compression shirt covering his built torso. his dark red leather gun holster gripped his upper body tightly while he donned steel knuckle gloves to get a feel for them. his six foot two frame towered over her five feet and she ran a hand over his chest to enjoy what was hers. Logan didn't stop her as he enjoyed her aggressive affection.
"Maybe we should head back to that private bathroom?" she said and he shook his head.
"We will be stuck in this mall for at least a month babe" he said as he removed her hand when it started to go into his pants. "It will start to get stale if we use it to cure our boredom that many times." she huffed but didn't nay say his thoughts as she walked over to the modified biker armor. they had broken up into its main parts for better protection from the undead. forearm protection, leg protection, and chest and neck to keep them away from unwanted bites. The chest piece also had some metal plates on top to make a simi workable bullet proof vest.
"Do you think this will be enough for us?" she asked looking back at him. He shrugged as he walked over and picked up one of the vambraces and sat down on a chair. While not necessary for now while they had the safety of the mall they also knew that it could go up in smoke any second given they still didn't know how much this world was reality to movie magic fiction. It was part of the reason they burned the dead swarming outside, as it could show how much their actions were accounted for. if a new hoard showed up just as big tomorrow? then the plot would progress to its inevitable conclusion. If the hoard didn't come back or they only had a small group tomorrow? then they could truly turn this base into a home for their foreseeable future.
"Should do well enough if worse comes to worse and we need to ditch the mall and find our own island or something" Logan said while rubbing the armor. He put it, and the rest away in a container before getting up and leaving the store. Akane followed with a skip in her step as she let her tactical boo bear plan, while she just got ready for the next chaotic moment. When they walked back to the open bar in the middle of the food court people were tense as they discussed something.
"It's the bite that does it" Ana said with finality. "Frank said she was walking on her own a day ago yet she couldn't even move when we saw her. the bite infected, killed, and then brought that woman back from the dead."
"how can you be so sure?" Andre said, leaning over with his chrome pistol in his hand.
"I saw that woman die, Andre," Ana said vehemently. "then she got right back up just like...another that I witnessed." The nurse looked away at that and memories of her partner filled her with anguish.
"Scratch too," Akane said while walking up with a smile. Everyone turned to the two and scanned their new looks with a few raised brows. "what? I'm goth, get over it" the petite Asian said while parking her rear in a bar stool. "but seriously, me and Logan have seen that any wound from any part of a walking corpse will spread the infection. our next door neighbor, a pretty little thing, got a tiny little scratch from some sick guy on the street, and then day zero hits and she's crashing through our window ripping into another neighbor's carotid." as she speaks this out Logan eyes Andre who seems completely relaxed.
This was another test they had developed to see if they could go off script, as they had prevented the scene where Luda gets infected. seeing him not even react told me she wasn't scratched or harmed in any way.
"Okay, so who's bit?" Michael asked everyone around.
"Frank for sure" Ana answered while downing a shot and taking a breath.
"What about the guy with the bum leg?" Sgt. asked and Ana shook her head.
"no, he says he fell," Ana answered again while Andre got up and left. Akane and Logan watched him and the former got up and walked away with him. Michael rambled out a description while looking at the Sgt., who seemed to be on the same wavelength. Both of them looked at Logan who nodded and turned to deal with the issue. "Are you going to quarantine him?" the nurse asked, seeing Logan heading to the bitten man. Logan stopped and turned to her.
"no, I'm going to put him down before he turns," he said before walking away again. Ana grew wide eyed and ran to catch up to the tall man.
"what!? No!" she shouted as she tried to talk some sense into him. The Sgt. and Michael followed after the two as back up for the hard choice. "I could be wrong!"
"You're not," the stoic man said, easily outpacing the smaller woman. "Like my wife said, we saw plenty of dead getting back up from things less than a full bite before getting here. the best thing for him now is to put him down before he becomes a monster like those things out there." Logan said not slowing down in the slightest. The Nurse seeing him not stopping ran forward to warn the man hoping she could get everyone to calm down. When the three men came into the room Frank looked pale as he eyed Logan and the gun in his hand.
"You're going to shoot me?" he asked and Logan nodded.
"The bite of one of those things infects you fast, and turns into one of those things" he said looking at the bandaged hand. Frank looked as well and for some reason felt sicker just from the glance. He looked to the nurse with tears starting to form. his daughter gripped him tightly in horror at what they wanted to do.
"No, no, no, you can't do this!" Nicole shouted as she pushed into her fathers embrace.
"Please, I'm all she has left" Frank said but Logan looked him dead in the eye.
"Do you want to die a sane man, or do you want to make your daughter see you as one of those things?" Logan asked the question. Frank shook at the thought and Ana grew pissed.
"Fine, shoot him Logan," she said, staring off into the distance for a moment. "You know what, shoot Tucker too" she offered and Tucker raised a hand.
"Please don't, I really did just fall" Tucker said looking a little pale.
"how can we be sure? might as well just shoot him too" Ana said glaring at Logan. Logan didn't even blink as he stared the woman down, both knowing that this was the right choice whether she liked it or not.
"Okay, I get your anger but please don't encourage the man with a gun to start shooting all willy-nilly" Tucker chimed in again. He was slowly inching away in his chair with his good leg, the fake wood floor screeching as he did so.
"are you *Screeech* sure it's *Screeech* the bite *Screeech* that *Screeech*" Frank was trying to say something but could barely be heard over Tucker's escape. Everyone looked at him and he paused.
"Tucker, I'm not going to shoot you, but if you keep doing that I will change my mind" Logan said and the man stopped his moving with a nod. "Yes Frank, we are sure" Logan said looking back at the man on the chopping block, the mood drifting back to a more somber vibe. Frank cried deeply as he held his daughter, knowing what was the right decision to make. He held his daughter tighter as he let her cry harder and harder at the hell this world had become for her...*Screeech*
"TUCKER!" Everyone yelled.
#####
Akane stood holding a stuffed toy behind a pillar as she listened to the conversation.
"I want a Russian name" Luda said while Andre held her stomach while frowning.
"we've been over this, African name" he said back while Akane grew a frown in boredom as it was clear from looking at Luda she was healthy as could be. With a shrug she tossed the toy onto a crib before whispering singing a song she liked while walking away.
"~I don't practice Santeria, I got no crystal ball~" she hummed out looking for something better to do with her time. as she walked across the mall she heard the scream of the dead before the sound of a shotgun rang through the halls. she nibbled on her lip as she looked around and spotted the GameStop and smiled. "gaming it is" she said as she continued to hum out the tune to Santeria.